Must Have Done Something Right / Scorbus

Chapter 54 / Enemies and Ex-Boyfriends

Teddy,
Can't believe I'm already back at Hogwarts. Holidays always seem to fly past. It's only my first week back and I've already got a stupid Charms essay to write! Oh well, at least I've got Scorp to help me out on those.
Actually, he's the reason I'm writing this right now. I just wanted you to know (in case you hadn't already figured it out), I told him. On Christmas Day, actually. So technically we've been together for two or so weeks now. It's a little weird for me; getting used to the fact that I've got a boyfriend (even using that word is bizarre!), but I have you to thank. Thanks for our 3am chat and thanks for coming out to the family. I haven't yet, needless to say. I have no idea how I'm supposed to tell mum and dad. But it'll happen eventually, I suppose.
Being with Scorpius is great. I love him; I love hanging out with him, and now I can't believe it took me so long to admit it!
Anyway, I hope you and Adam are okay, and I hope we can see each other soon. Say hi to him from me and Scorp.
Your little brother,
Al.

Dear Mr Ipsworth,
I am writing to let you know that I have discussed the matter of my training with the Reserve Squad at Puddlemere United this year with my parents, and I am happy to inform you that they have agreed to let me participate. Attached is their consent.
Thank you for the opportunity to join what I consider to be the greatest Quidditch team in England.
I look forward to your reply and details of when I begin my training.
Thank you again.
Yours in Quidditch,
Albus Severus Potter,
Seeker of the Hogwarts Slytherin Quidditch team.

There were three things Albus needed to do upon returning to Hogwarts this year.
The first was to write to Teddy.
The second was to send his consent to Mr Ipsworth.
The third was to make an appointment with Professor McGonagall.
As he saw the second owl carrying his letter to the talent scout out of the Owlery, Albus dug in his pocket and pulled out a note from the Headmistress, informing him that she had some time to spare if he wished to speak to her. The password, apparently, was Deluminator.
Knowing he didn't have much time, Albus hurried out of the Owlery and headed to McGonagall's office. He had to be quick; otherwise Scorpius will wonder where he was, and Albus wanted to make sure to keep his visit to the Headmistress a secret from him. He knew it was wrong to omit Scorpius from his plans—and if he found out he wouldn't be pleased—but this was something Albus had to do.
"Deluminator," he announced, having reached the entrance to the grand office.
At once, the griffin standing guard began to move, spiralling inward and upward, revealed the ascending stone staircase. Albus hopped on, casting a look over his shoulder to ensure his paranoid mind that Scorp wasn't around.
"Mr Potter," the Professor greeted in her usually stern voice as he stepped into the office.
Albus took a second to look around the impressive room before turning his gaze back to McGonagall. "Hello, Professor."
"Come, sit," she invited, gesturing to the seat opposite her. When Albus did, she continued, "What can I do for you?"
Albus took a deep breath. Unbidden, a memory from long ago resurfaced in his mind. Something that Scorpius had once told him to do—or rather, not to do. And here Albus was, about to break his promise. He closed his eyes and forced the memory back into the depths of his mind. This was for Scorpius' sake. Everything he was about to say and do was for Scorpius. "Professor McGonagall, there's something you should know," he said. "But the only way I can tell you is by using a Pensieve."
"A Pensieve?"
Albus nodded. "It's best if you see it for yourself." Then, he hastily added, "I can swear under Veritaserum that none of my memories are tampered with and everything is the truth."
McGonagall adopted a look of part curiosity, part shock. "That won't be necessary, Mr Potter. Very well, if you wish to show me your memories, then so be it." She stood. "This way, please."
He followed her to a cabinet in the corner of the room, which she opened to reveal an ancient-looking stone basin that reached Albus' hip. He had never seen a Pensieve before, and he had been expecting something a little more impressive looking than the simple, chipped artifact before him.
"Your wand, Mr Potter," McGonagall said.
Albus dug into his pocket and retrieved his eleven inch wand, hewn from holly. Carefully, he placed the tip against his own temple and thought how strange it was to hold his own wand in a position of attack against himself. He swallowed and closed his eyes, concentrating to pull out the right memories. A moment later, Albus felt a gentle pulling originate from his temple as the memories were extracted. A soft blue-silver glow illuminated the side of his face as the memory left him.
"In the basin," McGonagall instructed.
Albus cautiously lowered his wand to the silvery surface of the liquid in the Pensieve, praying silently that he was doing the right thing. He hoped Scorpius wouldn't be angry with him.
"Will you join me, Mr Potter?" the Headmistress asked.
"N-No, Professor," he answered in a wavering voice. "I can't." There was no way in hell he would ever be witness to the events he had just been forced to remember. Once was torture; twice would break him.
"As you wish," she granted him, before giving him a small warning look.
"Don't worry, Professor. I won't go anywhere or do anything stupid. You have my word. I'll just wait right here."
She nodded and slowly bent over to dive into the shimmering surface of the basin. Within a second, she had vanished.
Albus meandered back over to the chair he had been sitting on and sucked in a large breath of air. Even though he had told McGonagall he didn't want to follow her into the Pensieve, his thoughts betrayed him. In the silent room, with no other distraction, Albus couldn't stop his mind from conjuring up images from the past he had tried to forget.
"He's the menace ... he's the fag. They shouldn't let filth like him enter Hogwarts in the first place," Matt had said once in the common room. "Look at me when I talk about you, you little shirt-lifter!"
Albus gritted his teeth together and shook his head adamantly, as if that alone was enough to stop the barrage of memories infiltrating his brain.
It wasn't enough.
Matt and Paul ... in the corridor ... hurting, punching, kicking, spitting ... there was blood ... Scorpius crying out ... writhing on the floor ... pain ... blood everywhere ...and Albus was standing, watching it all ... doing nothing, just watching ... until Scorpius was unconscious ..."STOP!" Albus cried out, holding his head in his palms, clenching hard. Closing his eyes didn't help; it only helped him remember better.
It hurt so much. Now, more than ever. Scorpius meant everything to him now. Seeing him hurt the way he was, filled Albus with so much anger and hatred that he shook with the effort to contain it. He was glad McGonagall was finding out. Maybe now, finally, justice would be served. Teddy had been right. Someone needed to know.
He stood and paced the room, hoping the movement would help him forget. Even still, words flashed through his mind. All the names they had called Scorp. Fag ... queer ... cocksucker ... shirtlifter ... faggot ...
A single tear left his eyes. How could they do that to him?
After an eternity, McGonagall was back. He turned to face her.
She stared at him, shellshock, lost for words. Albus knew how she felt. Gingerly, she crossed the room and sat in her chair, eyes wide and unblinking.
"Professor?"
"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked. Albus detected anger in her tone, alongside her distress.
"He didn't want anyone to know."
McGonagall turned to him. "That is no excuse, Mr Potter. This ... is a horrifying outrage. You should have told someone—"
"I know, Professor."
She closed her mouth, her retort dying in her throat. Apparently, she took his words to heart as she observed his guilt-stricken figure. "I wonder ..." she trailed off. "...But we never knew."
"Sorry?"
"Magic performed outside the classrooms, in the corridors and common rooms, is always detected and reported, even the most innocent of spells. How did Mr Morion get away with it?"
"He hardly ever used magic," Albus replied softly. "Matt always used his hands. The one time he did use magic, we were at Hogsmeade, out of the castle. You wouldn't have known."
She nodded slowly, but kept quiet. When she finally spoke again, Albus was startled by her change in demeanour. "Thank you, Mr Potter, for informing me of the wrongdoings that are occurring right under my nose. Rest assured that the guilty party will be addressed. The consequences cannot be disregarded, and the punishment will fit the crime, I assure you."
Albus nodded and stood.
"I'll see you out, Mr Potter."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Over the next day or so, the Hogwarts rumor mill was put through a test. A test to see how long it would take until every last student knew that Matthew Morion, the Keeper from Slytherin, and Paul Rockwell, one of the Chasers, were expelled.
Their crimes were never revealed in public. It was only announced that their deeds compared with the worst of sins and that they were a threat to the student body of the school.
Needless to say, Morion and Rockwell weren't pleased with the outcomes, but those who had any say in the matter, didn't care.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The day after Albus had met up with McGonagall, he was sitting alone in his dormitory, going over some profiles of students who had expressed a desire to fill in the two vacant positions on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Albus sighed—as if winning the Cup wasn't difficult enough, now he had to train two new players. Still, Albus wasn't complaining that Matt and Paul had left. Good riddance, he thought smugly.
The sound of the door being opened startled him.
"Oh, hello," greeted Scorpius as he meandered over to Albus. "What are you doing?"
"Quidditch stuff," Albus said with a shrug. "How was class?"
"Nothing too extraordinary," Scorpius answered. He sat down beside Albus and cast a contemplative look at him while toying with his bottom lip a little. "So did you ... did you hear about Matt?" Scorpius asked in tone that was too relaxed to be realistic.
Albus briefly considered remaining ignorant on the matter, but decided it would be less reasonable to pretend he knew nothing. The expulsion of Matthew Morion had more to do with him than any other student in Hogwarts.
He turned to Scorpius to reply. "Yep." Hopefully, one-word answers would suffice.
They wouldn't. Scorpius' curiosity was insatiable. "I see," Scorpius murmured. "How did you find out?" he asked innocently.
Albus shuffled the papers before him, thumbing through them mindlessly to stall for time and conjure up an answer Scorpius would be satisfied with. The task was fruitless; Albus was sure Scorpius already knew the truth. Telling McGonagall had been directly against Scorp's wishes. He just hoped that he hadn't ruined anything between them.
He expelled a large breath of air. "I had to, Scorp," he said, knowing Scorpius would know what he was talking about without saying it aloud. "I had to tell someone. I know you told me not to, but I couldn't stand the thought that after hurting you and beating you, Matt would get out scot-free ... I'm sorry I went back on my word, but I'm not sorry I told McGonagall. I'd do it again if I had to, but maybe I'd tell you about it first—"
"Shut up," Scorpius said with a cheeky grin, before leaning forward and kissing Albus' lips affectionately.
Albus' eyebrows lifted. "You're not mad at me?"
"Nope," Scorpius said, pecking Albus' mouth once more.
"You forgive me?"
"Yes." Another kiss.
"You mean, I did the right th-"
"Please kiss me," Scorpius requested kindly.
Albus' grin stretched past his cheeks. "As you wish," he granted, dropping his papers on the floor and stretching to the side toward Scorp. He captured his mouth successfully, silencing their playful conversation.
Albus' boldness had grown in the past two weeks. At first, he was almost shy when he and Scorp were together; like their relationship was still sitting on thin ice. He had taken some time growing comfortable with kissing Scorpius. It was different, not the least because Scorpius was a boy; but also because their kisses evoked emotions stronger than he'd ever experienced.
Now, two weeks later, nothing held him back. Immediately, he pressed his tongue against Scorpius' mouth and was instantly granted access. Hungrily, he dived in, exploring, tasting, loving. Every kiss was intense. He couldn't get enough of Scorpius.
He moved himself closer and used his hands to hold Scorpius to him: one behind his neck, and one at the small of his back. He pressed closer so that any and all air between them vanished. Scorpius was pushed back and he planted his right arm on the bed to keep himself upright, against the pressure of Albus' lips.
Needing to breathe, Albus pulled up for a bit and spent the next few moments panting along with Scorpius. They were smiling like fools at each other.
"It's annoying that we need to stop for air," Scorpius joked, dimples decorating his cheeks as his grin grew further on his face.
"You keep breathing," Albus suggested in a husky voice, "I'll keep kissing."
Hastily, he attached his lips to the left of Scorpius' mouth, moving his head to the side to allow full contact as he made his slow journey down the side of his face to his jaw.
Scorpius gasped loudly. "Albus..."
A surge of desire and love crashed through Albus. Scorpius tilted his head away from Albus to extend his neck and invite Albus to do as he wished. And Albus did. As his lips and tongue staked claim on Scorpius' left jaw. In the small recesses of mind not caught up with the frenzy of kissing Scorpius, Albus knew he should slow down and pull away. He was going too far.
Granting himself one last, long kiss on Scorpius' mouth, Albus pulled up, staring at Scorpius' flushed features with hazy vision.
"I'm sorry," he gushed out, struggling for breath.
Scorpius' eyebrows dipped down in confusion. "What for?"
Albus licked his lips and could taste Scorpius on them. "Getting carried away ..."
A small smile grew on Scorpius' face before he quickly ducked his head shyly. "That's not necessarily a bad thing."
Albus almost smiled at Scorpius' embarrassment but decided against it, not wanting to encourage his timidness. He knew Scorp meant that he didn't want Albus to keep their kisses slow and safe. He was just too shy to say it aloud. But Albus wanted him to. He wanted Scorpius to feel comfortable enough to tell Albus that he wanted to take their kisses a step further. With this in mind, he asked, "Why's that?"
Scorpius chewed on his lower lip and took his time in answering. "I like it." He swallowed. "I like it when you kiss me like that." He stopped and raised his head again until their eyes met. "It's strange; I'm not usually like that. I mean, my only previous experience was with Eamon, but even with him, I never liked to kiss. I always thought it was too personal and private. Something I should save; hold close to me." He paused and almost instinctively ran his fingers along the necklace Albus had given him. He hadn't taken it off since Christmas. He smiled. "With you, it's different. I want to kiss you, and I want to be kissed by you. I'm not worried about later, or tomorrow, or what the consequences are ... Which is new for me. I just want to live in the moment, and let whatever happens, happen."
It couldn't have been easy, Albus thought, for Scorpius to reveal his thoughts like that. But in the wake of what he had said, Albus had the proof he needed that Scorpius was comfortable with their relationship; he just had a different way of showing it. Albus was okay with that. They each had their parts to play, and Albus was happy fulfilling the role of instigating their intimate kisses for the time being. That Scorpius trusted him above all to not only spill his secrets to, but also to share his most private moments with, meant the world to Albus. He vowed silently right then to never abuse his responsibility in their relationship. "I love you," he whispered, almost out of nowhere, staring at Scorpius with their unbroken and uninterrupted gaze.
Scorpius smiled softly. "I love you too."
Driven by emotion, Albus restarted their kiss, assured in his heart and mind that Scorpius wanted it as much as he did.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Bumping into Eamon was the second thing on Scorpius' list of 'Things To Not Do When I Get Back To Hogwarts' — the first being, bumping into Mel. He had been doing well, too. It was now two weeks into the term, and he had yet to come within a three-meter radius of the Ravenclaw.
But when he stupidly forgot that the third step on the staircase that led to the library was an illusion, rather than a solid step, fate stepped in. Scorpius suddenly found himself falling gracelessly and landing painfully on the unforgiving stone corridor of the third floor. His precious books bounced merrily after him and landed haphazardly on top of each other. To make matters worse, his ink pot had decided to join the skirmish and exploded colourfully on top of the whole mess, causing deep blue ink to seep deeply into the pages of his textbooks.
Naturally, the only person around to see this humiliating debacle was one Eamon Hudson.
"Scorpius!" he cried out in alarm, dropping his own books—carefully, mind—on the floor and rushing to help the fallen Slytherin. "Are you okay?"
Scorpius gritted his teeth and cursed the fates for such bad luck. Wincing in pain, he turned his head to face Eamon. "I'm fine," he fibbed, offering a very socially acceptable answer in place of the truth. "How are you?" he returned, trying to make the situation far less awkward than what it could potentially be.
"Never mind me," Eamon said, bending down and extending an arm to Scorpius. "Here, let me help you up."
Somewhat against his wishes, Scorpius accepted the offered hand and felt himself being pulled upright. "Thank you," he said instantly, cringing at the throbbing pain in his right ankle. Then, to his dismay, he examined the state of his belongings. "My poor books," he muttered sadly.
Eamon immediately bent to retrieve theme.
"No, that's okay, I can pick them up," Scorpius tried to say. "Don't you have class?"
Eamon paused and gave him an amused look. "It's Saturday," he pointed out.
"Oh, right", Scorpius muttered, while inwardly hitting himself for not remembering. Of course it's Saturday! He stood still for a second, watching Eamon pick up his ink-sodden books, before thinking he should probably help.
When all his books were once again returned to his bag, which was then placed rightfully on Scorpius' right shoulder, an uncomfortable silence stretched between them, sounding alarms in both their minds of a past yet unspoken.
Scorpius frantically searched through his brain in a quest to find something to fill the noiseless void, but it was Eamon that responded to the silent cry.
"How have you been?" he asked simply, leaving Scorpius to berate himself for not coming up with such an easy opener himself.
"Alright. And you?"
Eamon shrugged. "Not bad." Then he took on a pensive look, as if rethinking what he had just said. "Good, actually. I've been doing well," he said instead.
Scorpius wasn't sure what to think about that. Was it a subtle way of saying that Eamon's life was now better without him? Or was it simply a positive outlook on life with no ulterior motives? Knowing Eamon, it could be either. "That's good. I'm glad," Scorpius replied.
Completely out-of-the-blue, Eamon blurted, "And Albus?"
Scorpius did a double-take. "Albus?"
It occurred to Scorpius that Eamon had very likely wanted this question answered at the very start of their conversation, but had been unsure on how to bring it up. It was only natural that he'd want to know. They'd broken up because Scorpius preferred Albus over him. "He's ... great. Really good. Complaining about school work, of course, but he's also got Quidditch, so ..." he trailed off lamely.
"Is it true that he got signed on with Puddlemere?"
"Yes, he plays on their reserve team. He's actually there training right now." It made Scorpius curiously proud of Albus to confirm that rumour for Eamon.
Eamon nodded. "Good for him. He's a good Seeker."
Scorpius tried hard to detect any hint of envy or anger, and decided there could be a little of both.
Another silence developed, but this time, Scorpius wasn't searching for words. Rather, it was Eamon who was struggling to form the sentences. His mouth kept opening and closing, but his vocal folds weren't cooperating. Scorpius would bet a lot that Eamon was trying to ask about his relationship with Albus. Apart from Lily, James, Claire and Andrea, no one knew. Albus and Scorpius had decided that while they weren't going to keep it a secret under lock-and-key, they wouldn't proclaim it loudly either. If anyone happened to see them acting closer than friends, then so be it. Unsurprisingly, rumours had begun to spread about them. Rumours that had been neither confirmed nor denied.
But now, it seemed that Eamon wanted a sure answer. "So are you two ... together?"
Scorpius decided to put him out of his misery. Of all people, it was probably Eamon that deserved an answer.
"Yeah, we are."
To Scorpius' surprise, the corner of Eamon's mouth lifted in a simper. "Finally came out of the closet, did he?"
A little irritated at Eamon's dry tone of voice, Scorpius replied frostily, "If you want to call it that." He didn't appreciate any jokes or comments made at the expense of Albus' sexuality. The whole issue was still a hushed point. Albus didn't consider himself to be gay, and Scorpius didn't think so either. Scorpius still believed that Albus was capable of entering into a relationship with a female. But as it stood, the person that Albus loved was a male. End of story. There didn't need to be any sly comments about whether or not Albus had come out of the closet.
Eamon must have sensed Scorpius' annoyance, and changed his tone accordingly. "I'm happy for you," he said softly.
Scorpius was a little dubious on the truth of his statement. Nonetheless, he said, "Thank you."
"Well, anyway, I better go. Got some things to do," Eamon said, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the library.
"Sure," Scorpius acquiesced. "I'll see you later."
A quick wave later, Eamon had disappeared up the staircase, pointedly remembering to miss the trick third step.
One he was out of sight, Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief, happy that his first meeting with his ex-boyfriend didn't leave him wallowing in anguish or resentment.
Checking the time, he realised Albus would be back from his training soon. Scorpius hurried to the dormitory.